Aaron Lerner -- key scientist in discovery of melatonin

New York Times

Published 4:00 am, Monday, February 19, 2007

Dr. Aaron Lerner, a Yale dermatologist and the leader of a team of researchers who discovered melatonin, a powerful hormone regulating human sleep-wake cycles, died Feb. 3 in New Haven, Conn. He was 86.

The cause was complications of Parkinson's disease, Dr. Lerner's family said.

In 1958, Dr. Lerner, an expert on skin pigmentation disorders who trained in both chemistry and medicine, led a Yale team that isolated a hormone from the pineal gland within the brain.

In laboratory experiments on frogs, the researchers found that the compound could lighten skin color and theorized that it might have applications in treating human skin disorders. Dr. Lerner named the hormone melatonin, and the team's findings were announced in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Subsequent investigations revealed that melatonin did not hold the key to treating disruptions in skin pigmentation like vitiligo. Research by others has since uncovered the hormone's importance in maintaining the circadian rhythm of rest and wakefulness, and it is now used to treat sleeplessness and jet lag.

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Dr. Lerner later developed a transplantation therapy for vitiligo, a disorder that affects about 1 percent of the population and destroys pigment-making cells. The condition may be disfiguring and leaves light-colored patches around body openings like the mouth and eyes, but it does not otherwise affect a person's health.

After removing a postage-stamp-size patch of a patient's normal skin, Dr. Lerner grew the cells in culture, then transplanted them to damaged areas. The result was a more uniform complexion covering the abnormal shades of skin. The technique was advanced in the 1980s and remains in use, even as vitiligo is more commonly treated by drugs and exposure to light.